Alvin and the Chipmunks - Abuse
by sybrinas
Summary: Dave goes on vacation and leaves his precious sons in the hand of someone that he had previously trusted. Trigger warning - Child abuse, whipping, physical injury


No one's POV

"Okay, I understand, Ms. Miller. —No, no, I completely agree—No apologies necessary, I can find someone else. —Yes, I'm sure of it. Yes, goodbye." With a click, Dave Seville hung up the kitchen phone. For three months, he had been planning a little week-long excursion to Europe, and in a matter of a minute all his plans may have been ruined. His sons had finally convinced him to take a vacation… alone. The Chipettes were supposed to be on their way to a summer camp, so Ms. Miller would be easily available to care for his children. Unfortunately, the camp had to cancel its summer activities due to termites in the cabins. The friendly, yet slightly insane old woman just couldn't handle six kids on her own.

It had been years since he had had more than a day to himself without his sons, and his three children told him it could help him relax. Goodness knew that he could do with something to relax him. He loves his children more than anything else, but just a little time off couldn't hurt. Just yesterday he snapped at his eldest simply for not quite hitting his note in their new song. It was not something he was proud of, to yell at an eight-year-old boy for making an easily correctable mistake, yet here he was. He had actually been really looking forward to his vacation. Too bad he couldn't go… Unless.

Dave widened his eyes. His mother, Ethyl, didn't live too far from the airport he'd be flying out of. "Perhaps, I could drop the boys off with mom for a week. They haven't seen her in ages!" After a quick phone call to his mother, Dave had an answer to where he would keep his sons. Making his way to the foot of the stairs, the man shouted up to the boys' bedroom, "Fellas, come here quick."

Lowering his book, Simon looked towards the door, "We can't be leaving yet?"

"He's probably just going over rules and regulations for the 900th time, Simon. Let's just make this quick," Alvin stood from his bed where he had been reading the newest issue of his comic book. Walking past their color coordinated suitcases near the door, the trio of chipmunks made their way out of the room and began heading down the stairs.

Spotting his sons heading down the stairs, Dave called up to them, "Ms. Miller is no longer available to watch you guys," The three boys stopped on the steps that they'd each been on. Alvin being only a couple steps from his father, and Theodore having barely made it down the first step. Looks of concern covered their faces, "Don't worry, guys, I'm still going on vacation. I'll still "relax," but my mom will be looking after you boys. You remember Grandma, right?"

Unbeknownst to Dave, each of his son's small bodies tightened up. They each looked to each other, worry still grazing their faces. "G-Grandma?"

"The one that smacked my hand for eating one of her cookies?" Asked an ill-faced Theodore.

"The one that ripped my book pages out of To Kill A Mocking Bird for reading after my bedtime?" Inquired an equally as ill-faced Simon.

"Dave, you can't be serious. That woman actually snapped my skateboard in half, with her bare hands!" Alvin shouted, standing up to his full height.

"Alvin, she didn't "snap your board." Let alone with her "bare hands," she tossed it outside, and Grandpa backed over it in his truck."

"Well, she shouldn't have thrown it out in the first place- "

"Well, you shouldn't have been riding it in the house. And besides, Simon you shouldn't have been up past your bedtime, and Theodore, she told you "no" when you asked for a cookie."

"Okay, let's not try to figure out whose fault it truly was for any of this, but didn't you once say she was a little shady after Grandpa died?"

With a sigh, Dave sat on the step next to his oldest son and slung an arm around his thin shoulders, "Look Alvin, she went through a lot when my dad died, but she raised me just fine. Dad – er – Grandpa wasn't around too much, with his job. Grandma basically raised me on her own and nothing bad came out of her being in charge of me, right? It'll just be for a week, and then you boys will be back home. Okay?"

Alvin shook off his father's arm, "right." His assurance came out as only a mumble, as he turned on his heels to go back up the stairs. Mentally, he was crossing "Skateboard" off of his list of things to bring along.

The reminder that his mom had become emotional after the passing of his father had continued to plague Dave. He reassured himself that Alvin was just getting to him, and his little boys would be just fine, but the thoughts still came swirling. "What if she snaps at them just as easily as I have been lately? They don't deserve that." "They'll be fine, David. She was usually a pretty mild tempered woman."

Once Dave had all of his suitcases in the trunk and his three boys buckled in the back, he sat himself into the driver's seat. With a quick turn of the key, the car jolted alive, and they were on their way. His mother's home being only a little over half an hour away, he tried to guess why he hadn't visited her more often. He was an only child after all, and she didn't have any other family to come visit. The revelation sent a slight pang of guilt through the man's heart, but he tried to shake it off. Perhaps, he could stay and talk for awhile after he went to pick up the boys in a week.

"For crying out loud Dave, are we there yet?" Alvin sighed, and slid down in his seat, his chin resting on his chest. His seatbelt nearly strangling him.

"Alvin, you asked less than three minutes ago, s-"

"Well, I don't remember ever asking _you_ , Mr. I-Know-Absolutely-Everything." Simon scowled past Theodore who was stationed in the middle of the arguing boys, at his slightly older brother.

"Come on, you guys don't have to fight," Theodore tried to insist as he could see the tempers rising in both of his brothers. His attempt went barely noticed by the two hot-headed chipmunks.

"Just because I care to actually pick up a book every once in a while doesn't make me perfect, but it sure makes me a lot better than you, so I don't know why you use my intellect as an insult-"

"In case you hadn't been paying attention, just before we left home, I had been reading a book."

"Alvin, comic books don't count. I mean actual books."

"I don't see a difference, your dumb books have pictures too," Theodore looked from his bickering brothers to the review mirror where he could see his father's eyebrows furrowing.

Looking back towards his brothers, Theo looked just in time to see Alvin reach across him and pinch Simon's knee, "Ow! Yeah, great addition to your argument. You got me hooked, you were right and I was—" The sarcasm was lost from Simon as Dave hit the brakes, causing everyone to lean forward, threatening to rip the seatbelts.

"There is no way you boys will be able to act like this at Grandma's! Honestly, if you do, I won't be surprised, nor honestly will I be angry, if she gives you a good smack. Now, leave each other alone and be quiet!" As he stepped on the gas peddle and got the car moving again, Dave's face softened. Not once had he ever hit any of them, not even Alvin, but he knew his mother could be known to smack a hand or bottom depending on the circumstance. He didn't personally agree with physical discipline, and he wasn't sure why he had just condoned his mother's actions, but he didn't feel like he was in the mood to take it back. The rest of the car ride was fairly silent.

Nearly ten minutes later, the family reached the old farm. Everything was silent, and felt as if nothing had been touched in years, though the passengers in the car all knew that everything had, in fact, been worked on. Their Grandma still kept up with the farm chores even though her husband had passed.

"What would it take to get you to lick that rusty fence, Simon?"

"For you to spell, onomatopoeia."

"Fine, you win."

Putting the car in park, Dave looked out the window towards the house. It really didn't seem like anyone was living there, but it was certainly his old family home. Looking down at his watch, he realized that he only had five minutes to spare at his mom's and hurriedly got out of the car. Opening the hatch of the trunk to get out the suitcases, Dave saw the house door finally creak open to reveal an old woman. Each of his sons joined him at the rear of the car, and he handed them their respectful bag.

Slamming down the hood of the trunk, Dave took another glance at the woman making her way towards the group. She was still recognizable as his mother, but her face was sunken and she had lost a lot of weight since his father's funeral nearly four years prior. He hated to think it, but the woman standing before him didn't really remind him of his warm and caring mother that he had originally wanted to entrust his sons with. Unfortunately, he now had only two minutes before he had to leave to be on time for his flight's departure, and had no way of backing out.

"Mom, it's really good to see you!" Even as the words left his mouth, Dave had a hard time believing them himself. He looked down at the trio of chipmunks standing at his waistline, "I know the boys are excited to get to see you after so long, right guys?"

"Sure," each of the boys murmured in unison. Dave glanced at his watch, and noticed that he only had a minute left. He knelt down, and hugged each of his sons. He also handed them a slip of paper with a phone number to the hotel that he would be staying in, and told them that he would be calling every night at seven o'clock so they were only to call him for emergencies.

"Don't worry too much boys, it's only for a week. I'll get you next Saturday, okay? Have fun!" Dave jumped into his car, and waved as he drove out of the driveway. The chipmunks all waved feebly back at him, with their suitcases at their feet.

Watching their father take the final curve out of view, each of the boys looked at each other. Ethyl placed one hand on Simon's right shoulder, and her other on Alvin's left. Gripping tightly, she ushered the boys inside. Still, no one said a word.

"Okay, she's creep-tastic, right?" Removing his sweater, Alvin grabbed his pajama bottoms out of his suitcase, "she's freaking me out."

Copying his brother, Simon pushed one leg through his own pajama bottoms, "Alvin, she can't be too bad. You know Dave wouldn't leave us with a total nutcase. She's just old."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. And, while you think about that, try to remember that grey goop she forced us to eat. I swear, that was not ravioli," when the boys had been ushered into their bedroom, they were left to discover that they would be stuck sharing a bed, and that said bed had once been Dave's bed as a child. Alvin threw his pillow up onto the bed, and clambered up after it.

"It didn't taste too bad, I thought it was okay," Theodore climbed up onto the bed after his brother, and rested back on his pillow to the right of Alvin of whom was stationed in the middle.

"You would think that, Theodore. No food grosses you out. Even food that isn't food." Simon was last to follow his brothers up onto the bed. Not that the bed was small, but each brother was nearly touching the brother on either side of him. Lying still would be fine, but rolling over would be the problem.

"Not all foods, Alvin. There's some stuff I don't like. Like, Like, uh, meat," Alvin snorted at his youngest brother.

"Good luck not eating any meat here pal, I doubt she takes meal requests. Besides, ravioli is supposed to have meat in it, isn't it?" Theodore gasped, and grabbed Alvin's arm, causing him to flinch.

"Oh my gosh, you're right. It didn't look like meat though, I swear. I didn't do it on purpose –"

"Wow, I can't believe you could desecrate an animal that way Theo, you must be devastated," Alvin rolled onto his side best he could, leaving him facing Simon. Simon narrowed his eyes at his older brother.

"It was an accident Theodore, don't listen to him. He is simply trying to upset you," Simon stated deepening his glare at the oldest chipmunk. Alvin stuck his tongue out at his immediately younger brother, of whom rolled his eyes in response. Not more than a couple seconds later, the bedroom door slammed open.

"I said to go to sleep ten minutes ago, why do I still hear voices?" Ethyl's angry voice was not a strong one, it shook with every other syllable, yet could stop you in your tracks if directed at you. Each Chipmunk shrunk farther into his respected pillow. "Think you need tucked in or something?" Theodore made to answer the question, but Simon reached over Alvin and grabbed the youngest boy's arm to silenced him. "Only babies need that. Next time, there will be major consequences."

Ethyl flipped off the light switch and slammed the door shut, leaving the chipmunks in complete darkness. While Alvin and Simon slipped under the covers and tried to make themselves comfortable on the worn bed, Theodore remained sitting up right, "Guys, Dave always leaves the door open a little. You know, so it's not so dark."

"Theodore, I-I know you're scared but I don't know if Grandma would be happy about that. Just try to sleep, okay?"

"Besides, if the door is open, then she could watch you sleep like the creep that she is-"

"Okay, Alvin, you're scaring Theodore, and you are being totally unreasonable. Just shut your mouth. Before she comes back to yell at us again," Simon turned to face the opposite direction from Alvin, facing the darkness of the room instead. Theodore slowly lied down and rested his head on where his and Alvin's pillows touched.

"Theodore, get on your side, your crowding me-" Alvin tried to scoot away from his nervous brother, but ended up shoving his other brother off of the bed. With a loud thump and a slight squeak, Simon hit the floor. Although he couldn't see anything, Alvin peered over the edge of the bed to check on his brother.

With a low growl, Simon pulled himself to his feet, ready to grab Alvin's neck. Before he could take a step towards the bed however, the bedroom door flew open again, and the light flicked on. Alvin slammed his head back onto his own pillow, and Simon jumped back into his spot on the bed. All three boys closed their eyes as tightly as they could. A fake snore even escaped Alvin to add to the effect.

"I warned you boys that the next time would have consequences, everyone up. Now," slowly opening their eyes, the boys shuffled off of the bed and walked towards the door. They could barely look at their grandma's face, and she had no interest in their sincere looks. She simply turned on her heels and led the boys to the basement stairs. Clinging tightly together, each chipmunk struggled going down the stairs for fear of being separated from the others.

The basement was a stereotypical farmhouse basement. Old, gross, and spiderwebbed. Theodore clung tightly enough to Alvin's arm, that the feeling in his fingers started to go away, but he didn't really mind. He was more focused on what would become of them. As soon as all four of them reached the bottom of the stairs, Ethyl instructed them to each remove their shirts.

"W-What?" Alvin stood in front of both of his brothers, eyeing the things lining the walls: shovels, hammers, whips, a chainsaw, and rope.

"I said remove your shirt, I'm sure you understood me. I can't be too sure though, can I? I thought I was very clear that there would be punishment if you didn't listen, and now you all seem as if I didn't give you warning." With a rotating stomach, Alvin pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor in the same place that his brothers had.

Alvin leaned over to Simon and whispered, "Maybe she's gonna beat us to death then bury us in the garden. Or, or, chop us to bits and sell our pieces at the farmer's market," Simon pushed Alvin away from him to stop the nonsense remarks.

"Since you had decided to get out of bed, you will go first," Ethyl said coolly with a finger pointed at Simon. The trio still remained as close as possible. She grabbed the middle child by his upper arm and pulled him away from his brothers. Tears were already streaming down Theodore's face as he feared their punishment. Alvin wanted to reach out and grab Simon, but he refrained. He didn't want to anger his grandmother any more than he already had.

Placing his hands on the wall as he had been instructed to do, Simon was nowhere near prepared for the pain that he experienced. A long slash across his back with the horse whip that had been on the wall sent a sharp pain all the way to his toes and back again. If he hadn't been prepared for that, he definitely wasn't prepared for the next four hits. Not a single one was lighter or less painful than the last as she swung forcibly onto the young boy's back. Sobs escaped him, leaving the red welts to show through his fur.

She pushed Simon back towards his brothers, and grabbed Alvin's upper arm next. Simon was still audibly crying as she forced Alvin into the same position. His heart was racing faster than it ever had in his life, and the slash across his back did nothing to ease his heart rate. Squeals of fright escaped Theodore and frightened the oldest even more. He tried to muffle the screams that escaped him the best he could, but having never felt something as painful in his life, he couldn't help it. She shoved Alvin back towards Simon, and went to reach for Theodore.

"Wait, he – he didn't actually do anything. He was trying to sleep. It was us," Alvin lied as he almost begged Ethyl to release his youngest brother. She stared at him for a long time, causing him to feel uncomfortable and even more nervous. How could she do this to sweet and innocent little Theo? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't bare the idea.

"It wouldn't be fair to not punish you all, don't you agree? And stop your crying, it could be worse, and it will be if you don't shut your mouths."

"Wait, please!" Alvin had never felt more protective over his little brothers in his life. The majority of the time, he was the one causing them strife. He never really had a reason to try to protect them, yet here he stood, trying to do so. "I-I'll take his."

Ethyl eyed the young boy up and down. Alvin's sacrifice surprised even him, as he awaited his grandmother's response. She rolled her eyes at him, and without so much as a glance at the youngest, shoved Theodore away and grabbed Alvin's arm again. He was sure her grip would leave a bruise on his thin arms. Five more slashes across his back brought forth a fresh bout of tears. He was sure to silence himself this time for fear of more punishments.

Back in their bed, each chipmunk sobbed silently, whilst lying on their stomach for the pain in their back was too much. They hadn't replaced their shirts, rather they threw them towards their suitcases so their backs wouldn't be irritated by the fabric. Each boy ended up crying themselves to sleep, though it wasn't a pleasant rest. They were waking up every time they tried to move due to pain, or in Theodore's case, due to nightmares.

Five in the morning struck on the clock, and Ethyl barged into the chipmunks' room. "You boys are gonna help me with chores while I have you here. There're a couple things that I need done. You have ten minutes to be downstairs and ready." She pulled the door shut behind her exit, and left the boys frightened and wide awake. Simon reached for his glasses, and placed them on his face. Sitting up, Alvin winced at the pain radiating from the welts still visible on his back.

The trio hurried to dress themselves, and made their way out of the room towards the kitchen. Another helping of "grey goo" greeted the boys, and they tried to swallow as much as they could before being called outside. Pulling on their shoes as they tried to walk towards the barn with Ethyl caused Theodore to almost fall on his face. The bruises that Alvin had suspected to get on his arms were showing through vibrantly, as if he didn't have fur obstructing their view. He had seen a matching one on Simon's right arm while they were dressing.

Reaching the door to the barn, Ethyl wretched it open. A foul smell reached all of the chipmunks' noses. Piles of dead cats were in corners and along the walls. "I don't have the time or the energy to get rid of them, so I just wait for them to get rid of themselves. If you make me too mad, you may find yourselves sleeping out here."

Alvin looked towards Simon for an explanation for his grandma's words, and with his nose plugged Simon whispered, "decomposition." Nodding his head in agreement as if he'd known that all along, Alvin traipsed behind his grandma. The morning chores were uneventful, and actually left the trio of brothers feeling proud of their work. They had gotten to let out more than a handful of cows from the barn to be able to graze during the day and even got to help feed a baby calf. They helped gather the chickens' eggs, and emptied out a mouse trap that had caught a curious snake. The boys were left to themselves outside while Ethyl went inside to watch TV, having nothing else to do.

"So, is there a way to get Dave back here before the week is up, or?" Alvin asked once he reached the highest horizontal branch in the tree that the brothers had decided to climb.

"No, that would require Grandma to be out of the room, and we don't want to interfere with Dave's vacation. We don't need him stressed, too." Alvin nodded along to his brother's words, as Simon reached for the branch Alvin was perched upon. Alvin's first thought was to push his younger brother away from his branch, he had gotten there, fair and square, but he quickly decided against it. Instead helped Simon up the rest of the way. He didn't want to cause either of his brothers more pain.

"Also, guys, Dave said he didn't care if Grandma hit us. He said so." Theodore had barely clambered up two branches before he decided that he was high enough, and sat himself down. He had to look way up the tree to see his older brothers.

"That's right, what if they both got mad at us for telling, Dave. We'd get hit for sure. Or maybe sent to sleep in the barn. I don't think that I can handle anymore." Though he hadn't been hit on this day, the stinging of the welts had stayed with him. They were now mild and barely recognizable, but his child soft skin couldn't take another lashing without splitting open.

"Speaking of, I didn't get a chance to thank you, Alvin. I'm not sure why you stepped in for me," Theodore stated trying to spy his brother through the thicket of leaves.

"Yeah, Alvin, that was brave of you. Don't get a big head though," Simon stated pointing at his brother, "It could get you in more trouble."

"Yeah, guys I can be great, but don't worry. Even I wouldn't dare mess with our dear ole' Grandma," Alvin stated as to reassure his brothers.

A couple days went by, and there were no more incidents of abuse inflicted on the children until day five. The trio had done their best to be on good behaviors and on their grandma's good side. Getting her rallied up would lead straight to a punishment, and so the boys avoided it at all costs. They hated to think it, but it almost seemed that Ethyl enjoyed threatening the fearful chipmunks with either sleeping in the barn or taking a quick trip to the basement.

"Alvin, Alvin, wake up," Alvin, barely awake, opened his eyes to see his youngest brother standing over him. He had shaken him awake and held his legs crossed tightly. He needed to use the rest room, and even though he tried his hardest, he could no longer hold it. This was obvious to Alvin as he witnessed the notorious, "potty dance."

"Really? We have to get up in three hours. Can't it wait?" Simon stated as he also awoke to the shaking of his brother.

"I have to go. Really bad. I can't wait three hours. I don't think I can even wait three minutes." Alvin looked up at Simon who had sat himself up to push on his glasses. Looking towards the door, Alvin recommended Theodore to take care of his business in the corner of the room instead of waking their grandma. He refused.

"Fine, come on," Alvin pushed himself off of the bed, and started towards the door. Simon rushed to meet up with his brothers, figuring they were all in it together.

"Wait guys, she'll hear the toilet flush, if she doesn't wake up to our footsteps, she'll definitely wake up to the toilet." Alvin thought for a moment at Simon's words.

"You could go outside. Then it won't be in the room, and it'll be silent." Theodore sighed impatiently, and started walking towards the kitchen door that led outside. Alvin and Simon stood watch at the door to see if Ethyl would wake and come looking for them. Just as Theodore was about to come in the house, the two boys keeping look out saw a silhouette making it's way towards the kitchen… towards them. They hid the best they could under the table positioned between the boys and their fuming grandma. Their breathing even stopped. Maybe she hadn't seen them?

With a click, Ethyl locked the outside door, and turned to the not-so-professional hiders. "If you wanna be outside so bad, you can stay there until chores. As for you two, downstairs." Alvin got in line behind Simon, and tried to reach for the door handle to unlock the door. Theodore being locked outside would be the poor kid's worst fear. All alone in the dark and unknown world. Before he could turn the lock, a blinding and painful thud hit his head. He looked back to see his grandma holding a tennis shoe in her hand.

"Why would you even do that?" Alvin muttered as he trudged after his brother holding his newly forming black eye, unsuccessful in helping his youngest brother. Getting to the bottom of the stairs, the boys reluctantly pulled off their shirts. The fear that blasted through Alvin as he was called up first was immeasurable. Sure, he had done this once before, but it wasn't something that you got used to. Especially the fact that this time he would be delivered fifteen blows.

"Ten for sneaking out, five for trying to unlock the door," Ethyl shouted as she delivered her eighth swing. Welts that had been nearly healed showed through vibrantly again on the poor eight-year-old, and some even opened and let loose thin strands of blood. All the while tears streamed down his face, but no sound escaped his lips. Her threat of "giving them something to cry about if they didn't shut up," was all he could think about as he was delivered his final blow.

Simon still audibly cried through the torment, but he was quieter than before, as he had been threatened with more slashes if he didn't stop being noisy. He held a hand over his own mouth as his other held him up against the wall. Blood stained the younger's fur as well, and finally Ethyl wrapped up her whip. Alvin began to wonder if she ever even had a horse to begin with. With a strong grip on both boys' arms, their grandma all but dragged the two boys up the stairs, tears still streaming their face and rimming their eyes. At the top of the stairs, Simon fell to his knees as she forcibly dragged him over the floor. She yanked him back to his feet by his wrist, and left his arm feeling useless and limp. She took the two back to bed. "I swear, if I hear one peep out of this room, I'll hang you by your ankles this time."

After the door shut, Alvin crept over to the window, and pulled back the curtains to look for his missing brother. He was barely visible at the angle Alvin had, and he could just see the outline of Theodore still sitting by the kitchen door. He looked like he had been crying the whole time. "I didn't mean for that," Alvin hadn't even realized that Simon had snuck up behind him, so his voice next to his head startled him.

"What? It wasn't your fault," Alvin looked at his taller brother, of whom he could barely make out the outline to in the moonlight.

"I said he shouldn't go in the bathroom. We all knew that she'd wake up either way. At least then he'd have been in there. Maybe we could have talked our way out of punishment if we had been in the bathroom. I don't know, I just feel terrible," Alvin didn't know how to respond to his brother. Every instinct was telling him to hug him or tell him that it wasn't his fault, or something, but he couldn't. He couldn't open his mouth at all. Even with Simon's eyes filling once again with tears, he found himself just staring dumbstruck at his brother. He found his pride holding back his caring gestures to his brother and he hated that about himself.

Alvin didn't blame Simon, he knew that Theodore didn't blame Simon, so why did Simon have to blame himself? Why couldn't Alvin just tell him he was over reacting? Before he knew it, he felt his own eyes start to react, and he shut them tight. Throwing his head to face the other direction, Alvin held back all the stewing emotions that tried to escape through his eyes. Climbing silently into the bed, Alvin barely opened his eyes to look at his brooding brother.

"Come back to bed Simon, I don't want to get hurt again, tonight." Without a word, Simon climbed noiselessly back into bed, and turned to face Alvin.

"You think that he'll be okay, right?" Simon asked the question as if he didn't really care for the answer. Just as conversation. The duo made sure to leave Theo's spot on the bed empty.

"Of course, us Seville's, man we don't break." Simon gave his best attempt at a smile to his brother's words, then rolled to his other side and fell asleep. All the while, Theodore cried by the door to be let back in. Alvin hated to admit it, but he was grateful that he couldn't hear his youngest brother's cries of fear and emotional pain from his bed. If he could have, he'd have been even more tempted than he already was to let him back inside. Which would lead to more punishment. He fell asleep with a heavy heart.

Waking up at five o'clock that morning, which had only been an hour and a half after he had fallen asleep, Alvin sighed contented. Dave would be getting them tomorrow night. They'd never have to be worried about being hurt as discipline ever again. And, perhaps, he would behave better for Dave. He knew know what he could have been experiencing instead. The next two days passed with no conflict, except for a few too-tight grips on their arms. A couple bruises appeared, but all together, the trio was safe for when their father would arrive.

Even though they had been talking to him nightly, nothing could amount to how much the chipmunks missed their father. Even though, he said that he was okay with Ethyl hitting them. They decided that as long as he never hit them, they could forgive him.

"So, we're not telling Dave, right?" Alvin asked his brothers as he stuffed his suitcase full. Without a word, each of the boys nodded in agreement. Dave didn't need to know. Alvin and Simon made sure their sleeves covered the bruises on their arms, and even that their sweaters covered the welts reaching their necks. Alvin tilted his hat to help hide the black eye. Theodore put on the best fake smile he could muster up. Dave would be there in an hour, and he didn't need to worry about their injuries.

As soon as the chipmunks lined up their suitcases by the door, Ethyl grabbed Alvin's arm, and looked him in the eyes. "If you say one word to David about this," she hinted at the black eye, and tapped his still stinging back, "I swear to God that you'll regret it." Alvin nodded his head with his practiced smile on his face. She then glared back at the two boys behind her, and pointed at them, "You two, too."

Seeing his father arrive had never been so sweat to the little boy. Alvin usually had something to hide when he saw Dave pull in, but never had it be something of this magnitude. Simon helped him fix his hat once more, and they grabbed their bags. As soon as the boys stepped outside, Dave stared at them. He didn't say anything, but stared into the faces of his two sons that would look at him, and the hat of the son that wouldn't show his face. "A-alright boys. Let's go." Dave took the bags that his sons were struggling to pull across the ground, and instructed them to get into their seats. Ethyl came limping out of the house, with a smile plastered to her face.

"Davey! I hope that you had a great trip! I know that I have had fun with the boys." The smile on her face took the unease away from Dave, and he embraced his mother for the first time in four years.

"I sure did, and forgive me for not visiting more often. With three kids and everything, you know."

"Oh, don't worry honey, I didn't have too many problems with them."

Dave opened the hatch of the trunk and placed the suitcases where they had been sitting a week previously. "So, they listened?" Ethyl nodded, "Even Alvin?" She nodded again, "That's almost too hard to believe. Anyway, see you sometime, mom."

Dave got into the car with his sons, and started the car. The silence of his boys brought back the feeling of unease that Ethyl's smile had eradicated. Once he had pulled out of the drive way, and gotten around the curve that he knew he couldn't see that house anymore, he questioned his sons. "Anything happen that I should know about? You boys seem spooked."

"No," The triplets stated in unison almost too fast.

"Right, okay," Simon shifted his left sleeve down to cover the unhidden bruise caused by being dragged up the stairs two nights prior. "Okay, well when we get home, I'm giving you all baths. You don't seem like you've had one."

"Of course, we took a bath Dave, once a day in fact. We're old enough to bathe ourselves as well, David. You don't need to help us," Alvin lied as panic started to ensue.

"Alvin, last time that I let you bathe yourself, it took three hours and all of the shampoo was on the floor."

"Dave, I was a child last month, now I know what I'm doing. Please," Alvin nearly begged his father. Dave shook his head at his son and persisted.

"Well, is there something you boys want to tell me, now?" Looking in his review mirror, he noticed all three boys shifted. His mind began to race. What could have happened to his precious sons that they all of a sudden don't want to talk to him? That they seem scared of him?

After the half hour car ride being almost entirely silent, arriving home was almost just as uneventful. Until bath time. Cornering Simon and Theodore in the bathroom, Dave turned just in time to see his oldest son trying to sneak past the bathroom door.

"Oh boy Dave, I'm feeling really tired. I don't think I have time for a bath-"

"Too bad mister, get over here." Simon eyed Alvin carefully as he entered the room. Theodore was already climbing into the tub, but the older two brothers held tightly to their sleeves. Dave looked down to their tightly gripped hands that they had stuffed dull of the ends of their sleeves. "Simon, come here." Without missing a beat, Simon shook his head. He was nervous, for lack of a better word, and didn't want his father to see how bad he had been. How many rules he had broken. He never broke rules, and now Dave would see that he had actually been a bad child for his grandmother.

Reaching out quickly, Dave grabbed Simon's left arm, the one used to drag him up the stairs, and the young boy flinched violently. Dave tugged him towards himself, lightly enough to avoid harming his son, but hard enough for it to work. When his middle child continued to wince at his touch, Dave became more worried than he had been throughout the entire ordeal. He pulled back Simon's sleeve to reveal a large purple bruise around his wrist. Tears threatened Simon's eyes as he avoided eye contact with his father.

"Surely, it was an accident. It wasn't something inflicted upon him," Dave thought as he reached down towards the bottom of Simon's sweater. He carefully pulled the clothing off to reveal bruises on his upper arms as well. He turned his son to face away from him, and was greeted with what was left of his welts on his back. Simon began to cry, which in turn caused Theodore to start crying. Dave turned his son back to face him. Pulling him into an embrace, he turned to his oldest son. A look of fear had crossed Alvin's face, and Dave reached out to hug him as well.

"A-Alvin, take off your shirt," knowing that the jig was up, Alvin finally removed the clothing and showed his father the welts and bloodstains on his back. The bruises up his arm were nothing compared, and his black eye was finally revealed at the removal of his cap. Dave helped his sons into the tub, and washed as carefully as he could. He still received cries of painful protests as he tried to clean off the blood from their backs. No words were spoken throughout the entire process, other than the occasional apology for having rubbed over a sensitive area.

All four Seville's were positioned in the living room soon enough, with the three chipmunks stationed on the couch. Their father paced back and forth for quite some time, before turning to speak to his sons. "When was the first time she- hurt you?"

"The first night."

"Why boys, what was her motive."

"We were supposed to be asleep, but we were still trying to get comfortable. We had to share a bed Dave, we were uncomfortable. I swear, it wasn't on purpose, -"

Dave rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his children, his little boys, were sitting in front of him completely traumatized and injured after he had a wonderful week. He felt guilty for placing them in such a situation. He felt selfish for having left them instead of bringing them. He felt like crying because his sons had just gone through more than he had gone through in his entire life, in one week. He was also trying to come to terms with the fact that he was about to call the police on his own mother. He had never dreamed of wanting to see her locked up, but he wanted it more than anything as he looked into his sons' no-longer-full-of-life eyes.

"Why didn't you boys want to tell me. You know you can tell me anything," Dave asked, kneeling in front of his sons.

"You said that you wouldn't be angry if she hit us," Simon admitted.

"Yeah, she also said that we'd regret telling anyone. What if she finds out," Dave shook his head.

"She will find out Theodore, but you'll be perfectly safe, I can guarantee that." Pulling himself back up to his feet, Dave made his way to the kitchen to dial the police station. He knew they would need to see a doctor and probably have to go to therapy. They'd have to give testimonies and say exactly what happened to them. Until then though, Dave was going to make the call, then go and sit with his sons. He wanted to be there for them more than he wanted to get legality into it. He wanted them to feel as loved as they were.

He had lied when he said that he wouldn't be angry if she hit them. If it had even been just a smack on the hand, Dave would have been upset. Telling his sons that he was okay with this physical discipline got them hurt even more. Just another thing to make him feel guilty.

Tucking his sons in that night was difficult. He had spent nearly two hours cuddling them on the couch. There were a lot of confessions and tears within those two hours. Separating them from him physically hurt him, but he figured he deserved it. After all, he was the reason that his sons have massive welts on their back and emotional scars that may never heal. All because he needed to "relax."


End file.
